ALL
INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL EXCISE
GAZETTED EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
Patron
Chief Patron
Patron
A. Venkatesh
Ravi Malik
C. S. Sharma
Mob. 7780255361 Mob. 9868816290 Mob.
9313885411
President:
Address for communication: Secretary
General:
M.
Loganathan Flat
No. 6, SE 11, Shastri Nagar, Ghaziabad Harpal Singh
Mob.8758262698 mail
Id:aiacegeo2019@gmail.com Site:cengoindia.blogspot.in Mob.9717510598
Vice Presidents: B C Khatik, V
Pagare (Central) Diwakar Sahai, Sanjoy
Gupta (East) Ashish Vajpayee, Amadul Islam (North) G Srinivas Reddy, P
Ravichandran (South) R Keny, J B Parmar (West) Joint Secretaries: S P
Pandey, T J Manojumon (Central) Subrata Adhikari, SiddharthTewari (East)
Ramkesh Meena, S Sahai (West) Atul Kumar, R B Sahu (North) Bhoopesh, R V
Raghunandan (South); All India Convener:
A K Meena All India Coordinator: B L Meena Office Secretary: B C
Gupta Treasuer: M Kumar Organising Secretary: M Bajpai Liaison
Secretary: N S Maheshwari North Zone Coordinator: Prabhakar
Sharma Legal Coordinator: S Sabarwal Vigilance Coordinator: R K Singh South Zone Coordinator: U
Sharma
(Recognised
by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide letter F.No. B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Office address: 206, B wing, CGO Complex II, Kamla Nehru Nagar,
Ghaziabad.
Ref. No. 10/AIB/T/23 Dt. 18.01.23
To,
Sh.
Vivek Johri,
Chairman,
CBIC,
North
Block, New Delhi.
Sub: Annual General Transfer 2023 – reg.
Sir,
Kindly refer to:
(i) Circular
F.No. HRM-II/PCM/(1)/CIR/2/2022-PLC-ADG-HRM-II-DELHI Dt. 28.12.22.
(ii) DOPT OM No.
DOPT-1669289899529 Dt. 24.11.22.
(iii) Circular
F.No.A22011/07/2018-Ad.II Dt. 12.04.18 regarding transfer/placement guidelines, 2018 for Indian Revenue Service officers.
2. It is
submitted with due regards that with reference to (iii) above in Para 11
guidelines have been issued regarding posting on compassionate grounds as
detailed below:
11.1. The Placement
Committee is empowered to take a decision in case an officer seeks a posting to
a particular station on medical grounds.
The Placement Committee, if it so decides, may refer the case to a Medical
Board.
11.2. In case of working couples, an officer may be posted at the same station
subject to availability of posts, in accordance with the extant instructions of
the Government of India (DOPT) on this issue.
11.3. Officers who have three years or less
service left shall be posted to the Station/ Region of their choice to the
extent possible.
11.4. In case an officer requests for retention in
a particular station upto the end of the particular academic year on the ground
that his/her child is studying in Class
-X or Class-XII, the placement Committee may consider such requests.
11.5. All requests for transfer/posting of Office
bearers of recognized IRS Association, requests on Spouse grounds, medical
grounds, child education ground, PwD cases shall be considered in accordance
with extant DOPT guidelines as far as administratively feasible.
3.
With reference to DOPT guidelines para 1(ii) above, Para B states about posting
of husband and wife at the same station:
Para B.2 is read
as follows “In the context of the need to make concerted efforts to increase
representation of women in Central Government Jobs, these guidelines were reviewed
to see whether the instructions could be made mandatory, and it was decided that when both spouses are in the
same Central Service or working in the same Department, and if posts are
available, they may mandatorily be
posted at the same station. The Consolidated guidelines are as follows” :-
(i), (ii), (iii),
(iv), (v), (vi), (vii), &
(viii)
Para 3 of the
said OM is read as follows “Complaints
are sometimes received that even if posts are available in the station
of posting of the Spouse, the administrative authorities do not accommodate,
the employees citing administrative
reasons. In all such cases, the
cadre controlling authority should strive to post the employee at the station
of the spouse and in case of inability to do so, specific reasons, therefore,
may be communicated to the employee ”.
4. Vide Para 3 of the Board Circular
at para 1(i) above), guidelines have been given only in respect of (i) Medical
Grounds and (ii) Posting on the ground of their children studying in Class
X/XII. Nowhere guidelines have been
issued regarding transfer/posting of Spouse at the same station.
5. In view of
the above, it is requested to insert the DOPT provisions in the transfer
guidelines regarding posting of husband and wife at the same station and
consider such cases to mandatorily post working spouses on the same station in
the AGT, 2023.
Thanking
you,
Yours sincerely,
(HARPAL SINGH),
Secretary General.
ALL
INDIA ASSOCIATION OF CENTRAL EXCISE
GAZETTED EXECUTIVE
OFFICERS
Patron
Chief Patron
Patron
A. Venkatesh
Ravi Malik
C. S. Sharma
Mob. 7780255361 Mob. 9868816290 Mob.
9313885411
President:
Address for communication: Secretary
General:
M.
Loganathan Flat
No. 6, SE 11, Shastri Nagar, Ghaziabad Harpal Singh
Mob.8758262698 mail
Id:aiacegeo2019@gmail.com Site:cengoindia.blogspot.in Mob.9717510598
Vice Presidents: B C Khatik, V
Pagare (Central) Diwakar Sahai, Sanjoy
Gupta (East) Ashish Vajpayee, Amadul Islam (North) G Srinivas Reddy, P
Ravichandran (South) R Keny, J B Parmar (West) Joint Secretaries: S P
Pandey, T J Manojumon (Central) Subrata Adhikari, SiddharthTewari (East)
Ramkesh Meena, S Sahai (West) Atul Kumar, R B Sahu (North) Bhoopesh, R V
Raghunandan (South); All India Convener:
A K Meena All India Coordinator: B L Meena Office Secretary: B C
Gupta Treasuer: M Kumar Organising Secretary: M Bajpai Liaison
Secretary: N S Maheshwari North Zone Coordinator: Prabhakar
Sharma Legal Coordinator: S Sabarwal Vigilance Coordinator: R K Singh South Zone Coordinator: U
Sharma
(Recognised
by G.O.I., Min. of Fin. vide letter F.No. B. 12017/10/2006-Ad.IV A Dt.21.01.08)
Office address: 206, B wing, CGO Complex II, Kamla Nehru Nagar,
Ghaziabad.
Ref. No. 11/AIB/I/23 Dt. 18.01.23
To,
Ms.
Neeta Lal Butalia, CBIC,
Principal Director General,
DGHRD, CBIC, New Delhi.
Sub: Suggestions for better implementation
of BUNIYAAD scheme.
Madam,
Kindly refer to letter F.No. InW/RBA/Misc/19/2022-Infra Dt. 02.01.23.
2. The Association is highly appreciative of the efforts of the DGHRD
being undertaken by the above-referred letter. It is very heartening to know
that DGHRD is planning the infrastructure of the future and has called for the
details from the field formations.
3. This Association is very clear that all the resources allocated to
the department are solely meant for performing the functions to be performed
for the Department. We should strive to ensure that all the finances are used
towards this goal. It is seen from the letter that this letter is aimed at
collecting some data from field formation according to which infrastructure
planning for coming 5 years will be based. For achieving the same, a report has
been called for in a given format. The Association submits a few points with
due regards in the forthcoming paras, so that the intention behind launching
the scheme “BUNIYAAD” meets its intended goals.
4. The format at Point No. A is regarding office space but it does not
have some basic column in absence of which no approximation about office space
can be made. For planning the requirement of future infrastructure, a survey
needs to be made about the present office space available and the office space
required as per the sanctioned strength cadre wise. It is also required that
wherein infrastructure is being planned for the forthcoming five years, the
vacancies to be accrued in the forthcoming years may also be taken into
consideration. It has been observed from the field formations that none of the
Superintendents is having the office space as stipulated in the Manual whereas
the most of the Commissioners are having space in excess of their prescribed
allocation. Hence, for conducting the survey regarding the requirement of space,
a committee having representatives of the Inspectors and Superintendents should
be formed to ascertain the exact requirement of the space. The requirement of
the space should be made considering the sanctioned strength and also the
working strength, if working strength is more than the sanctioned strength.
While implementing the BUNIYAAD policy, priority should be given to the places
where the office space is less than the space specified for the sanctioned
strength and the space as per the sanctioned strength should be taken up once
for all the stations having space in accordance with their working strength.
5. The DGHRD Manual also necessitates that while calculating office
space 10% additional space should be added. So, while the requirement of space
has been asked from the field formations, it is requested that the field
formations should be first directed to take a survey of the actual office space
available and the shortfall in the office space considering the sanctioned
strength cadre wise and then adding 10% extra to the total office space for
arriving at the future space requirement.
6. The Association has also observed that many of the office buildings
other than those in the big towns/cities do not contain a lift facility.
Earlier the cost of a lift as compared to the cost of construction was very
high but nowadays, lifts are not that much costly. Further, the availability of
electricity has also improved in far-flung areas of the country, so the places
which were not having continuous power supply and thus lifts were not suitable
are now suitable for installation of the lifts. So, to make the building
Divyang friendly and more accessible to the pregnant ladies and old aged persons,
it is required that the office building should have lift facilities. So, while
planning the infrastructure for coming 5 years, it should also be ensured that all
the office buildings are having lift facility.
7. On going through the DGHRD infrastructure manual, it is seen that
the office space in CBIC is prescribed by OM No. 26/19/65-ACC.II(3) dated
20.12.65 and the office space for a Superintendent is 14.5 sqrmtrs. Kind
attention is drawn to the Office Space Manual of the Income Tax Department,
where it is seen that the office space has been prescribed also vide same OM
No. 26/19/65-ACC.II(3) dated 20.12.65. But the office space prescribed for the
Income Tax Officer (ITO) who is equivalent to the rank of Superintendent has
been prescribed as 18 sqrmtrs. So, our Superintendent should also be provided
18 sqrmtrs office space.
8. In the GST, Superintendent is also having the responsibility of
Adjudication of cases involving revenue of Rs. 20 lac and so he/she has to attend
the personal hearings. So, reducing the office space of the Superintendent will
also hamper the office work of the Superintendent because of not having the due
space for sitting of the taxpayers, their lawyer and recording of PH proceedings
by an assistant. All this would hamper the office work adversely.
9. It is also pertinent to mention that in Income Tax Department an officer
recruited as Inspector is promoted upto level of Additional Commissioner/Commissioner
whereas in our department the most of the officers recruited as Inspector
retire after getting just one promotion. It is high time that if the department
is not able to provide promotions akin to the Income Tax Department, it should
at least give the office space equivalent to the ITO in the Income-tax
Department and also Non Functional Upgradation at par with the counterparts of
Income Tax at least to bring financial parity.
10. Kind attention is also drawn to the fact that in the year 2014,
Audit Commissionerates were created but till date, DGHRD has not prescribed the
office space required for the Audit Commissionerate. The Audit Manual
prescribes that the audit of the small units is to be conducted while sitting
in the office. This requires that the taxpayer and his CA/Accounts person come
to the office for explaining the documents maintained by them. The taxpayer is
also required to visit the Audit Office in case of large and medium units as
after the conduct of the audit, he has to explain his point of view on the
audit objections raised by the Audit team. This requires additional space in
each and every circle and group, so that the taxpayer and his team can sit to
discuss and explain book of accounts. But till now, the space requirement for
audit circles and groups has not been prescribed whereas the space requirement
of individual ranges has been prescribed in the Manual where the space for
taxpayers attending the ranges and a waiting lounge has been prescribed.
However, no such exercise has been undertaken for the Audit Commissionerate
since its coming into the existence in 2014.
11. Coming to point no. B of the above-referred letter, which is
regarding residential accommodation. In many of the outstations where our
offices are located, there is no official accommodation. So while making the
policy about residential accommodation, the first thing which should be taken
into account is the outstation where we have offices but do not have any
residential accommodation. However, this report does not contain any details by
which this can be ascertained. The first column in this report should be a list
of places where we have office premises and which of these places have
residential accommodation. Kind attention is also drawn to the Transfer Policy
Circulated vide F.NO. A-22011/03/2008-Ad-II dated 05.04.2011, at point no. 5.7
(b), this policy says that 100% housing facilities woild be provided in every
class C city. While this policy is for class C cities, where many of the
facilities like schools for children and hospitals for ailments are there but
many of our offices are located in mufassil towns where not even the basic
facilities are available. So in such places, the housing facility for 100% of
the sanctioned strength should be planned so that the staff being posted there
does not have to worry about securing a good place to stay and they can
concentrate more of their time doing their job.
12. It is also to bring your kind notice that many of the stations are
having TYPE-I quarters. Presently, not even Hawaladar as per his pay scale is
entitled for the TYPE-I quarter. They are entitled to TYPE-II quarters and
hence, many of the TYPE-I quarters are in a dilapidated state just occupying
the real estate which can be put to better use. So, this report should also
contain the details about stations having TYPE-I quarters. It is suggested that
space freed from these TYPE-I quarters may be utilized for constructing common
amenities including creche, community hall, Gym etc, and other required
amenities for which the funds from welfare fund can also be utilized. Further,
very few residential accommodations have been constructed in the last 10 to 15
years whereas the sanctioned and working strength has increased greatly during
this period. So, there is a scarcity of accommodation, especially in small
towns. Most of these small towns have the posting of Inspectors and
Superintendents as there is a long break for promotion to Asstt. Commissioner.
The Superintendent by virtue of the long wait becomes eligible for TYPE-IV
quarters after getting Rs 5400 pay scale. But no TYPE-IV quarters exist in
these small stations. So, while planning for coming 5 years is made, it should
be ensured that if the Department is not in a position to give a promotion to the
Superintendent, the least the Department can do is to provide them with
appropriate accommodation of TYPE-IV quarters at these small stations.
13. Further, many of the cities do not have transit hostels for
Inspectors and Superintendents as a result of which newly transferred officers
have to spend time searching for suitable accommodation as there is a long
waiting list for allocation of TYPE-III accommodation. So, all the major towns
where we have our colonies should have provisions for transit hostels.
14. One more aspect of accommodation which requires attention is the
uniform residential accommodation booking system. It is different in different
places and there is no centralized system for applying for residential
accommodation. It is suggested that a centralized portal for residential
accommodation should be made like a software of NIC being used for allocating
the house in Delhi. It is a very good software that should be used whenever an
officer gets a transfer order, he/she can apply for residential accommodation
at his new place of posting. Further, this portal should also contain booking
facilities for all the Guest Houses, Holiday Homes, Transit Hostels etc. so that
anybody can make a hassle free booking whenever required. The system being used
by CPWD for their Holiday Homes can be emulated which will ensure convenient
booking and better utilization of the resources.
15. Over the years the association has observed that some of our
offices in the major cities and especially that of higher officers give an
impression of elegant corporate office but the offices located in the fields
are mostly lacking even the basic infrastructure. As discussed earlier, all the
resources of the Department should be primarily used toward the collection of
more and more revenue. The association feels that rather than using these
resources for having very glittering and aesthetic office at major cities for
higher ups, the resources should be used for providing the basic necessities in
the outstation offices for Superintendents and Inspectors. It is commonly seen
that the most of the offices outside the major cities lack proper office
furniture for the Inspectors and Superintendents. Most of the time, they are
using outdated desktops for office work (the usable life of a Desktop and
laptop is three years) and that too on their normal table rather than having
any computer table for it. Further, the electrical connections for these PCs
are temporary and are not part of the permanent electric supply. There is
hardly any repair and maintenance of the furniture and building in these
outstation postings. If any accommodation is available, it is mostly in
dilapidated condition. Year after year hardly any funds are allocated for their
repair and maintenance. So, to improve this state of affairs, the Association
suggests that the Chief Commissioner should be required to visit all the
outstations in his charge and send a report about the infrastructure that is
lacking at these places. In the GST regime, the Chief Commissioner does not
have to exercise any of the executive powers under the Act and the functions
like reviewing the orders of the Executive Commissioner is no more with them.
As most of the Chief Commissioners are having a good number of officers at
their disposal in their offices, so the time spared in the GST regime can be
better utilized for the enhancement of infrastructure at outstations which
would greatly aid in better implementation of the GST by the officers in field
formations.
16. The Association has also observed that in various shore guard
locations, the offices are in very dilapidated condition and no residential
accommodation is available. It would be pertinent to mention that a few years
back when we visited the Tuna port, the facility of even toilet and drinking
water (on the sea shore what is available is salty) was not available. Further, at places like
Bhachau although the posting of Superintendent is being done, at present, there
is no office and a single Superintendent is being given charge of Bhachau, Tuna
and Rapar located at 170 kms from each other and the Division office is
situated at Bhuj which in totally different direction to these placed. None of
these three places are having any office, residential accommodation or vehicle
is provided to the Superintendent. These are only examples and such examples
may be throughout the country. Although the transfer policy circulated by Board
cited supra at point no. 5.7(a) says that a vehicle would be provided to every
officer heading the office irrespective of the level of the officer. Many of
the Customs stations are located at the Border where there is no opportunity to
hire accommodation. So, it should be made a policy that 100% accommodation
should be provided according to the sanctioned strength at these places.
Further, Chief Commissioners of Customs like in the case of GST should also be
required to visit these stations under their charge, so that they can report
about the office, residences and other logistical requirements of these Customs
stations.
17. It is again requested that the office space prescribed for the
Superintendent should be amended to the office space prescribed for ITO. For
the office space of Audit Circle and group, the field formations may be
directed to conduct a survey to ascertain the exact office space available vis-a-vis
required. Then only this exercise would be of any use for proper planning for
the coming 5 years.
18. The Association requests and hopes that all of above submissions
may kindly be given due consideration.
Thanking
you,
Yours sincerely,
(HARPAL SINGH),
Secretary General.
